The World In Black and White
by spnlover3000
Summary: Castiel Novak sees the world in black and white. He is depressed and living alone. He has no friends and his family has abandoned him, leaving Cas in the cold. It isn't until he meets a man named Dean Winchester that he learns there is only one other person who sees the world so differently from everybody else.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Rainy Days

A very depressed Cas awoke to the sound of heavy rain. It was the first day it had rained since January. Castiel peeked at the gray clouds from his bedroom window and lugged himself over to the bathroom. The whole world was black and white to him. It was like he was lifeless, and there was no hope for him. He quit his job at Clarence Cafe, a place he used to love so much had become a depressing site of crying in the storage room and not being able to smile at the customers.

He rarely went outside but today felt different. He thought he might go for a walk to the park and sit on a bench. He needed to feel the cold little rain droplets that could accompany him on his misery. He often threw pity parties for himself alone in his apartment but for some reason he felt he should throw one outside for once. He stepped outside and took a look at the gray buildings and the black cars. Not one drop of color.

Cas arrived at the park, practically soaked, with sopping wet hair that looked to be black and stained glass oceanic eyes that no one seemed to notice anymore. He sat on the first bench he saw as he quietly viewed the abandoned playground. He was quite freezing as he sat there alone until he noticed a man walking towards him. Cas knew he was probably just going to walk right past him. People never stopped to talk with him.

Cas was alarmed when the man sat right next to him and looked deeply into his cerulean blue eyes.

"Aren't you cold?" the man asked in a deep voice.

"A bit," Cas replied, and for a minute he could've sworn he saw a hint of green in the man's pretty eyes. It was the first time he had seen a color in months. Cas just convinced himself that his mind was playing a trick on him.

"Why are you sitting here in the rain?"

"I like it." _God,_ Cas thought. _I must sound like a complete idiot._

"I like rain too," the man said. "I'm Dean. Do you mind if I sit here for a bit?"

"No, not really," Cas admitted. He wasn't lying. He actually quite wanted the man, Dean, as he was now informed, to sit with him. Castiel thought it was very peculiar that he was actually enjoying someone else's human contact, but he thought it was more weird that someone actually wanted to engage in conversation with him. He looked back at Dean and saw the glimpse of green again. It was brighter this time.

Dean looked over at Cas staring and Cas looked away quickly. Dean smiled.

"What are you smiling about?" Cas asked.

"Nothing, I just could've sworn I saw a shade of blue in your eyes. I thought the world had always been in black and white."

"You mean, I'm not the only one? My family, my old friends, they all saw the world in color. They thought I was crazy. I feel like I'm stuck in a black and white film."

"No kidding! I thought I was the only one too!" Dean sounded ecstatic and Cas laughed. This was a day of firsts.

"My name is Castiel." He smiled at Dean.

"Pleasure," Dean said, smiling back.

They sat together in the cold rain for awhile. Talking about anything and everything. They were both laughing and smiling the whole time. There was one thing Castiel Novak was certain of, and it was that Dean's eyes were a bright forest green with drops of sticky honey that seemed to melt onto white canvases that ended up as masterpieces that sold for millions of bucks in top notch galleries.

They both finally had to leave, but not before Dean gave Cas his number. He flashed Cas his perfect white teeth and Cas smiled back.

"I'll call you!" Cas said as he took the piece of paper from Dean's sculpted fingers.

"You better," Dean said with a wink and began walking away.

"Hey, Dean!" Cas called. Dean turned and looked back at the drenched man in a trenchcoat.

"Yeah Cas?" No one ever called him that, despite how it was what he preferred to Castiel.

"Your eyes are really green."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: First Date

It had been a couple days since he met Dean and Cas was still racking his brain trying to figure out whether or not he should call.

' _Maybe he was just trying to be nice_.' This thought had dragged through his mind at least 50 times since he had woken up that morning. Fear had stricken Castiel in the most confusing way. He desperately wanted to call Dean, make plans, go out for some coffee at Clarence's, and end up inching closer and closer to a life filled with color that he could spend with Dean, but he also knew that the green eyed man he met was probably just being polite. He saw a depressed soppy-haired man in a trenchcoat sitting all alone in the cold rain and he felt bad for him.

Castiel looked in the mirror, ashamed of who he saw. Just as he began to look down, something had caught his eye. He looked back up and he noticed something. Color. Specifically a blue color that was as deep as the ocean and beyond.

Cas picked up his phone and began to dial the number on the slip of paper. Two short rings later, he heard the familiar husky voice that seemed to be made of amber colored whisky.

"Hello?"

"H-hey Dean. It's me, Cas." He had no idea why he expected such a handsome man to remember boring old Cas but he said it anyways.

"Oh hey! I was waiting for you to call." Cas could even hear the toothy grin on the other line. Cas laughed and paused for a moment before he spoke again.

"So, I was wondering...Would you maybe want to go to this little coffee shop I used to go to today?" Cas began rambling. "It's called Clarence Cafe and they have some pretty good coffee a-and I used to work there so-"

"Cas," Dean said as he busted out a grin. "Of course I'll go." Cas was as relieved as ever. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away," Cas laughed. "Where should I pick you up?"

"It's okay. I think it's cute." Cas took a slight inhale as the words came out of Dean's mouth. "Oh shit, maybe I shouldn't have said that. I-I...I didn't know if-"

"Dean," Cas paused. "It's okay. It was a good thing to say." Cas touched his cheeks as he felt a slight blush coming on and Dean smiled through the phone again.

"You can pick me up at my brother Sam's house." Dean proceeded to give an address and they both agreed to meet at 11:30 AM. They said their goodbyes and each of them immediately began getting ready three hours earlier than they had to leave.

Once Cas was ready, which he spent all three hours trying to look his best, he hopped in his car and began driving to the address Dean had given him. It looked like a pretty average house to Cas. He parked at the curb and went to go ring the doorbell. A very tall man with long hair answered the door.

"Hi you must be Castiel. I'm Sam, I'm Dean's brother." Sam seemed to have kind eyes. He seemed very accepting.

"Nice to meet you," Cas said with a reassuring smile. He stuck out his hand for Sam to shake as a gesture of politeness. A pretty blonde woman arrived at the door and kissed Sam on the cheek.

"Hi, I'm Jessica. Dean has told us SO much about you!" she said, turning away from the door as if she were really speaking towards Dean. Cas chuckled and blushed and shook her hand as well.

"Sorry, Dean's running a bit late," Sam added nervously. "I should go check up on him."

"Oh, you can come in!" Jessica gestured and guided him to a couch. Cas sat down as Jessica excused herself to go check on some pastries she was making.

Cas sat patiently on the couch. He was thinking when he realized that he hadn't felt like this in years. He had butterflies in his stomach and he kept contemplating whether this was actually a date or not. He hoped it was, he _really_ hoped it was. He did suspect that Dean was gay, I mean, he did look kinda butch, but in a good way. And then there was that comment on how he thought it was cute when Cas was rambling. Cas could feel another blush creeping up. He continued overthinking until he saw a flash of green walking towards the couch. He knew it was Dean, for his eyes were the only color that he could see in this whole house.

Cas smiled and Dean smirked back at him.

"I missed those pretty blue eyes."

"I missed those pretty green ones," Cas said shyly. "Shall we go?"

"Of course," Dean said as he walked to the door and opened it for Cas. He could hear Sam and Jess giggling from the kitchen door and he added a hushed, " _shut it!_ " at them from the entrance hall. They hopped in Cas' car and began driving to Clarence's. They talked the whole way and Cas noticed a subtle hint of light brown, perfectly tousled hair.

"Your hair is light brown," Cas said, looking at Dean from the driver's side.

"Yours is almost black," Dean added.

"You can see it?" Cas asked, surprised.

"As much as I can notice your bright blue eyes."

They arrived at Clarence Cafe and both ordered a coffee and a slice of pie. They chatted and ate pie and smiled and laughed, things that they each hadn't done in months. They decided to leave Clarence's and go to a more private spot by the beach. It was about a 20 minute drive there and none of it was wasted. Sentences flew about the air.

"So where do you work?" Cas asked.

"I'm a writer," Dean replied shyly. "Though I've never actually finished a book, much less published one," he chuckled.

"I'm sure you'll figure out what to write about," Cas reassured.

"Yeah, yeah I think I will," Dean added, looking at Cas. And a warm honey feeling warmed Dean's belly as he realized that Cas' eyes were the first color he'd ever seen in his life. This is why when they arrived at the beach, there was nothing more to compare the water to than Cas' eyes.

"Can you see the color of the water?" Dean asked when they sat down.

"No I can't say that I do, but I can see the sky." Cas smiled.

"The water looks like your eyes," Dean said looking out at the crashing waves. Cas picked up a shell nearby and observed it. He threw it towards the sea, and Cas' shell sank to the bottom of the ocean.

They stayed at the beach until after they had watched the sunset, which they both could see in color for the first time in their lives. Cas was pointing out how the honey color had lived in Dean's eyes. They were both standing now, as the waves crashed over their barefeet and almost touched the bottoms of their rolled up jeans. Dean bent over to pick something up. It was a small white shell. He grabbed Cas' hand and placed the shell in his hand. Cas looked at his hand and realized the world was filled with coincidences, or maybe some things were just meant to be. He smiled and shut his palm.

Dean and Cas began walking to the car. The sky was still a dim orange color. Cas began opening Dean's door but Dean flipped him around and pushed him onto the side of the car. He pressed his lips onto Cas' and wrapped his arms around his back. Cas relaxed into the kiss and moved his hands to Dean's face. The world had stopped, time had stopped. They were both entangled in a human infinity. Cas could taste cherry pie and cigarettes. The whole thing felt like an Elvis song.

Finally, they both pulled away, and they both realized something. The whole world was in color.


End file.
